College baseball: Rare late-inning loss for Catawba
Published 5:48 pm Wednesday, March 26, 2025
- Catawba’s Braeden Major
Staff report
KANNAPOLIS – Catawba’s baseball team lost 10-4 to Belmont Abbey on Tuesday at Atrium Health Ballpark in one of the weirder games of the season.
Catawba’s bullpen has been really stout and closer Hayden Simmerson (Carson) has been close to unhittable, but things unraveled against the Crusaders.
Catawba scored four runs early with James Dunlap (two doubles), Dylan Driver (3 hits, 2 RBIs) and Hunter Atkins (3 hits) providing the offense.
Driver (Carson), who hit his 22nd college homer on his 22nd birthday over the weekend, stayed hot.
Catawba got great pitching from Braden Major, who threw six shutout innings and was in line for the win.
Belmont Abbey (21-11) got one run in the seventh and put two base runners on in the eighth against Joe Burleyson (East Rowan).
That’s when Simmerson (1-2), who has been saving everything in sight whether it took one inning or three innings, got the call to shut the door.
The door stayed open. Six earned runs later, the Crusaders had control of the game.
Ranked 14th, Catawba (23-8) has a chance to bounce back on Wednesday at home against North Georgia.
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